SafeDeposits Scotland Blog

Student renters urged to reclaim tenancy deposits

As the end of term approaches and a summer of travelling or work awaits, it's easy for students to forget about reclaiming deposits from rented accommodation, but our research has shown that students at some universities are more forgetful than others.

Currently, 188 tenancy deposits remain unclaimed by students from Scottish colleges and universities - that's almost £62,000! We carried out the research by identifying all tenants who have a university email account registered against their name on their deposit account.

By far the largest contributor to the total were St. Andrews University students. Over half (103) of the unclaimed deposits belong to students at Scotland's oldest university, who miss out on average around £406 each.

At the other end of the spectrum, only one student at Edinburgh College has not reclaimed the £44.60 owed to them.

The average deposit left unclaimed by students at Aberdeen University (£235.68), where property prices and rental valuations have traditionally been higher than other Scottish cities, was lower than those at Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh Universities.

Students at some institutions, however, have perfect records on reclaiming deposits. For example, students at City of Glasgow College, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, UWS, and Queen Margaret University left no deposits unclaimed.

If your deposit is protected by SafeDeposits, we sent you an email with log in details for our website when your deposit was first transferred to us. You can log in to our website after you move out to claim your deposit back. We have a blog post and YouTube video which explain the repayment process step-by-step.

If you need your log in details resent to you, or you're not sure if your deposit is protected by SafeDeposits, please get in touch.